PJ Cobbs--works on
silkI
love silk. I
am drawn to the feel of it: it is a sensuous, optimistic, elegant, and
yielding fabric that although appearing delicate, has at once strength
and a translucence that are enhanced by the color that it readily
soaks up.

Silk is a truthful fabric-what you
see is what you get, even as a painting medium.
However, the reality of trying to capture an image on silk is an arduous,
sometimes uncomfortable, endeavor. There's the prep-work involved:
treating the fabric, stretching it, finding the right dyes and pigments,
and finally setting it to make it permanent. Then there's the work itself:
waiting for inspiration; finding the perfect place to paint, whether the
control of the studio or the spontaneity of outdoors-- sometimes under the
amused eyes of passersby. It can all be a bit draining, and the results, sometimes
unpredictable. And yet it's that very unpredictability that makes me
strive on and fall in love with the results. May you do the same.
--PJ Cobbs